This invention relates to the technical field of an image verification method for a print image or a representation image in case of being subjected an inputted image to image processing and then outputting as a print or representing on a display device.
Heretofore, the images recorded on photographic films such as negatives and reversals (which are hereunder referred to simply as xe2x80x9cfilmsxe2x80x9d) have been commonly printed on light-sensitive materials (photographic paper) by means of direct (analog) exposure in which the film image is projected onto the light-sensitive material to achieve its areal exposure.
A new technology has recently been introduced and this is a printer that relies upon digital exposure. Briefly, the image recorded on a film is read photoelectrically, converted to digital signals and subjected to various image processing operations to produce output image data for recording purposes; recording light that has been modulated in accordance with the output image data is used to scan and expose a light-sensitive material to record a latent image, which is subsequently developed to produce a (finished) print. The printer operating on this principle has been commercialized as a digital photoprinter.
In digital photoprinters, the image is converted into digital image data and exposing conditions to be used in a printing step can be determined by processing that image data. Hence, by using such digital photoprinters, the correction of dropouts or blocked-ups due to photography with rear light or an electronic flash, sharpening, the correction of color or density failures, the correction of under-or over-exposure, the correction of the insufficiency of marginal light and various other kinds of image processing can be performed effectively enough to produce prints of high quality that have heretofore been impossible to obtain by the direct exposure technique. Having these features, the digital photoprinter is composed of the following three basic components; a scanner (image reading apparatus) that reads the image recorded on a film photoelectrically; an image processing apparatus that performs image processing of the read image to obtain output image data (exposing conditions) for recording; and a printer (image recording apparatus) that scan exposes a light-sensitive material in accordance with the output image data and performs development and other necessary processes to produce a photographic print.
In the scanner, the reading light emitted from a light source is allowed to be incident on the film, thereby producing projected light that carries the image recorded on the film; the projected light is then passed through an imaging lens to be focused on an image sensor such as a CCD sensor which performs photoelectric conversion to read the image, which is optionally subjected to various kinds of image processing before it is sent to the image processing apparatus as the input image data (image data signals) from the film.
In the image processing apparatus, the image processing conditions are set on the basis of the input image data that has been read with the scanner and then the input image data is subjected to image processing in accordance with the thus set image processing conditions, thereby producing output image data for image recording (i.e., exposing conditions) that are subsequently sent to the printer.
In the printer, if it is an apparatus that adopts exposure by scanning with optical beams, the optical beams are modulated in accordance with the output image data sent from the image processing apparatus, a light sensitive material is two-dimensionally scanned and exposed with the light beams (printed) to thereby form a latent image; then, the exposed light-sensitive Material is subjected to preset development processing and other various kinds of processing to produce a (photographic) print on which the image that has been recorded on the film is reproduced.
As described above, the digital photoprinter has the following features. That is, the images which were recorded on the film can be outputted as the print; in addition to the above feature, images which have bad image reproducibility due to inappropriate photographing conditions when they were photographed, are subjected to digital image processing for the correction of a backlighted scene, high contrast scene, underexposed negative film, sharpness, insufficient marginal light and the like, whereby the images can be easily outputted as beautiful images of high quality as the print.
When the images recorded on the photographic film are printed onto the light-sensitive material by any of the above-mentioned direct exposure (analog exposure) and digital exposure, if a number of images having similar scenes are present in one photographed film or if a plurality of image data directly obtained by photographing a plurality of subjects with such as a digital camera or a video camera are read out of an image recording medium and a number of images having similar scenes are present among the thus read images, it will be inconvenient for a user who is to enjoy an output print service to receive finished prints differing in quality from each other though similar scenes were recorded thereon. Therefore, image data have normally been subjected to image processing so as to finish the print up such that print images of similar scenes appear the same.
In order to perform the above, as an exemplified verification method, frames are represented on a monitor one by one on which a user or an operator performs a visual judgement on similarity and, if it is judged that the present frame is similar to the preceding one, image processing adjusted by manipulating keys is performed so that the present frame may be of same finishing quality as the preceding frame.
However, it is troublesome for the operator or the user to perform the visual judgement on similarity and, unless the operator or the user is well skilled, it takes time in performing the judgement on similarity as well as results of judgements vary from one to the other.
To solve she above problem, verification methods for performing judgement on similarity between any individual frames based on image data or image information of each frame have been proposed.
As such verification methods, for example, disclosed are a method for judging similarity of scenes based on an amount of a judgement formula using a plurality of characteristic quantities (in Examined Published Japanese Patent Application (kokoku) No. 63-52367) and a method for judging similarity of two consecutive frames utilizing LATD (large area transmission density) and a detected amount of photographing light quality (in Unexamined Published Japanese Patent Application (kokai) No. 49-40942).
However, an invention described in the latter application No. 49-40942 has difficulty in judging whether a frame of interest has a standard scene or a scene influenced with color failure, density failure or light quality of a light source if LATD is only used when printing exposure light quantity of the frame of interest is determined. The latter application No. 49-40942, moreover, determines the printing light quantity of the frame of interest by judging whether LATD or light quality of the light source is same in the consecutive two frames and, then, by comparing the printing exposure light quantity of the frame of interest with that of a frame which is judged as same to prevent an occasion that one of two sane scenes which have LATD difference, for example, density difference of 0.03 or less therebetween is corrected and the other of the two same scenes is not corrected.
An invention described in the former application No. 63-52367 judges whether two frames are of same scene or not based on whether threshold of judgement formula using characteristics quantities such as LATD, average density of upper, lower, right-side and left-side portions of a picture, minimum and maximum density, contrast of the picture as a whole and the like is large or small and, if the two frames are judged as having the same scene, correction is performed such that the two frames are provided with same exposure light quantity.
The above two prior arts only judges whether two frames are of same scene or not and, if the two frames are judged to be of same scene, the two frames are finished so as to have the same density by providing them the same exposure light quantity. Accordingly, if the two frames are completely the same, they will be appropriately finished whereas, if they are not completely the same but similar, they are in some cases corrected to be the same and in other cases not to be the same. As a result, the print which gives sense of incongruity to the user will be served.
An object, therefore, of the invention is to solve the above problems of the prior art methods and to provide an image verification method for a print image and a representation image which is able to improve the above-described prior art methods, to decrease uneven finishing among similar frames in one case, to provide stable print quality and image representation quality on a representation (display) device, and to allow verification efficiency of a user or an operator to be increased.
The stated object of the invention can be attained by providing a print verification method comprising the steps of:
performing similar frame judgement processing for judging similarity between any individual frames using all of or a part of image data which is obtained by reading images in a plurality of frames on a film original to be processed or which is obtained from an image data recording media;
setting image processing conditions such that print finishing of frames with high similarity therebetween is the same with or similar to each other;
representing in a verification picture plane verification images of the frames which have been subjected to image processing under the thus set image processing conditions; and
performing similarity verification processing such that, when a user""s correction of the image processing conditions is performed on a certain frame, the image processing conditions of a similar frame or similar frames which has been judged to be similar to the certain frame at the similar frame judgement processing can also automatically be subjected to the user""s correction with different intensity changeable in accordance with a degree of similarity to represent the verification image anew.
The present invention provides an image verification method, comprising the steps of:
performing similar frame judgement processing for judging similarity between any individual frames using all of or a part of image data which is obtained by reading images in a plurality of frames on a film original to be processed or which is obtained from an image data recording media;
setting image processing conditions such that representation images of frames with high similarity therebetween is the same with or similar to each other;
representing in a verification picture plane verification images of the frames which have been subjected to image processing under the thus set image processing conditions; and
performing similarity verification processing such that, when a user""s correction of the image processing conditions is performed on a certain frame, the image processing conditions of a similar frame or similar frames which has been judged to be similar to the certain frame at the similar frame judgement processing can also automatically be subjected to the user""s correction with different intensity changeable in accordance with a degree of similarity to represent the verification image anew.
In these aspects, the above-described image processing conditions include at least one of density, color balance, gradation and contrast.
Moreover, once the user""s correction of the image processing conditions is performed on the certain frame, the image processing conditions of the certain frame are not automatically changed by the user""s correction performed on image processing conditions of other similar frame or frames which is similar to the certain frame.
It is preferable that the above-described plurality of frames to be judged in the similar frame verification processing is one case of film original or one case of image data recording media.
It is preferable that images in the plurality of frames are represented over a plurality of the verification picture planes.
In this case, in the above-described similarity verification processing, when the user""s correction is performed on a frame within one of the verification picture planes, other similar frame or frames in the one verification picture plane and the similar frame or frames within other verification picture plane are preferably subjected to the user""s correction with different intensity changeable in accordance with the degree of similarity to represent the verification picture anew.
It is Preferable that whether the similarity verification processing As performed or not performed can be switched on a basis of each case of the film original or the image data recording media or on a basis of each verification picture plane.
Moreover, in the similarity verification processing, when other frame or frames within one verification picture plane is similar to one frame within the one verification picture plane, a function which represents in the one verification picture plane at least one of a mark showing that the other frame or frames is similar and a degree of similarity of the other frame or frames is preferably provided.
In the similar frame judgement processing, when the degree of similarity between any individual frames is judged from the image data, weighting is preferably performed in accordance with a distance between any individual frames such that the degree of similarity becomes smaller as the distance between any individual frames becomes larger, or, when the distance between any individual frames is larger than a specified distance, calculation. of the similarity is preferably, forcibly omitted and the similarity becomes 0.
In the invention, it is preferable that the image processing conditions themselves set by the similarity verification processing are sent to an output apparatus for printing the image in the frame on the film original and for outputting a print image.
Preferably, a verification image data itself which has been corrected by the similarity verification processing is sent to an output apparatus for printing the image in the frame on the film original and for outputting a print image.
Preferably, the image data is subjected to image processing in accordance with the image processing conditions set n the similarity verification processing and, thereafter, is sent to the output apparatus for outputting the print image.
Preferably, output image data obtained by performing output image reading after the similarity verification processing has been performed is subjected to image processing in accordance with the image processing conditions set in the similarity verification processing and, thereafter, is sent to the output apparatus for outputting the print image.
Alternative embodiment of the invention provides a print image verification method comprising the steps of:
prescanning a plurality of frames in a film original to be processed;
performing similar frame judgement processing for judging a degree of similarity between any individual frames based on a thus obtained prescanned image data;
setting image processing conditions such that print finishing of frames with a high degree of similarity therebetween is the same with or similar to each other;
being subjected a prescanned image in a frame to image processing under the thus set image processing conditions;
representing the thus processed prescanned image in the frame on a verification picture plane;
performing, when a user""s correction of the image processing conditions is performed on a certain frame, the user""s correction with different intensity changeable in accordance with the degree of similarity automatically on the image processing conditions of a similar frame which has been judged to be similar to the certain frame in the similar frame judgement processing and, thereafter, representing the verification image anew;
performing fine scan to obtain fire scanned image data after the similarity verification processing is finished;
subjecting the thus obtained fine scanned image data to image processing under the image processing conditions set in the similarity verification processing; and
sending the thus processed fine scanned image data to an output apparatus for outputting a print image.